


Loss

by nullvoid



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Things go wrong very quickly, light descriptions of bodily harm, no happy ending, vent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:59:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28872705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nullvoid/pseuds/nullvoid
Summary: It was a normal investigation. It was a normal video. It was all normal.Then it wasn't.Ryan was standing there. He was standingright there.Then he wasn't.Or, Ryan dies. Boohoo sad times, Rated M for character death and light descriptions of bodily harm.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	Loss

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RedLlamas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedLlamas/gifts).



> I had a bad day and took it out on my boys again  
> I would apologize, but I'm developing a taste for angst lmao
> 
> Also might be exchanging this for a wrestling au 😂

It was a normal investigation. It was a normal video. It was all normal.

Then it wasn't.

Ryan was standing there. He was standing  _ right there _ .

Then he wasn't.

* * *

Shane and Ryan were walking along a hiking trail. They were quiet, allowing the crickets and locusts to sing their symphonies into the warm summer night.

The boys had found themselves in Phoenix, Arizona, following up on their Phoenix Lights investigation as a part of a special series they were trying out where they would visit the locations they had previously filmed an in-office video about. Currently, they had finished filming and were meandering around the canyon edges, walking off the goofy energy they always seemed to curate during filming.

Shane glanced over at Ryan, taking in the few features he could see from the residual rays of their flashlights. Ryan looked softer these days, more calm and collected. Even during investigations, Ryan had been more subdued, confident in his ability to survive the night.

A long time had passed since Shane had agreed to join the Unsolved team. He could see that time on Ryan's face now, the once round young-adult features now smoothed into handsome angles and slopes, showing Ryan's age in a sophisticated and, dare he say attractive, way.

Actually, you know, he did dare to say that Ryan was attractive. Shane was ready to tell anyone and everyone who would listen about all the ways he was attracted to Ryan Steven Bergara, his best friend and cohost. And, if he wasn't mistaken, Ryan definitely felt the same to some capacity.

"Ryan, wait," Shane said, pausing in their path. Ryan stopped a step ahead of him, angling his body to face his cohost. His eyes, those beautiful and deep brown eyes, gazed at Shane curiously.

"What's up, big guy?" Shane smiled softly at the nickname and took a step closer to him.

"I need to.. I have something to say." he admitted, eyes shifting all over Ryan's face to commit it to memory. He knew that no matter how this turned out, Ryan would still be by his side, but he wanted so much to remember this split moment before he effectively caused their entire relationship to shift.

Ryan tilted his head, a gently teasing smile pulling at his lips. "Well? Spit it out." Shane smiled back and closed the distance between them, a gentle hand caressing Ryan's cheek. He angled his friend's face up and met him halfway, the soft and slow press of his lips against Ryan's sending electric shocks down his spine.

He heard Ryan make a quiet noise of surprise before he felt a hand grasp his shirt, an arm moving around his neck to pull him into a deeper kiss. Both of them smiled into the kiss, Shane humming contentedly before pulling back and placing a smaller peck to Ryan's lips. He kept their foreheads together, eyes closed.

"Those weren't words, Shane." Ryan chastised teasingly. Shane chuckled and pressed another kiss to Ryan's nose.

"No, but something tells me you know what I was trying to say." Ryan hummed and smoothed his hand over Shane's chest, the hand with the flashlight dropping back to his side.

"I hope you understood what I was saying, too." Ryan said quietly.

"Loud and clear, baby." Shane allowed his partner to step back, both still smiling at each other.

"I don't know about you, but I am  _ certainly _ ready to head back and.. Settle down for the night." Ryan said, eyes raking over Shane's body to ensure his meaning wasn't lost. Shane laughed, a quick shock.

"Sure, race you back to the car?"

"You're on!" Ryan giggled and spun on his heel, taking one large step. Shane watched his flashlight beam  _ thwip _ across the ground, a brief glance at the edge of the canyon, before it cut off quickly into the abyss.

... 

It was surprisingly quiet.

For a moment, Shane thought he had imagined the entire thing. He thought it was a dream, wishful thinking turned worst-possible-outcome.

But there was no waking up. This was reality.

* * *

The canyon they were walking along hadn't been that deep. However, there were several rocks along the bottom, some sharp, some just large and round.

The rocks that killed Ryan reminded Shane of them, ironically. One small, short yet sharp point that cut across his neck on the fall down and one large, long rounded boulder that cracked his skull when he finally hit the bottom.

Bitterly, Shane thought that he would have caught Ryan better than his rocksona had.

* * *

Everyone thought Ryan's death was suspicious. Shane and Ryan had been out at the canyons alone, the crew long-since packed up and moved on to the hotel. The way Ryan 'happened to have' two fatal wounds triggered alarms in the police investigation.

Everyone was disappointed when Shane passed the lie detector. Everyone including Shane.

Buzzfeed fired Shane, quoting 'bad press'. Of course the local news outlets had clambered over themselves to report on Ryan's accident. Some loose lips in the police department supplied the narrative of a love confession gone wrong, spinning the story to make Shane a jilted man who killed Ryan in a fit of possessive rage.

Shane never bothered to correct anyone.

There was no evidence to convict him, but he let everyone think he murdered the man he loved. He let everyone think he was a killer because he  _ was _ .

If Shane hadn't chosen then, there.. If he had been patient, if he had waited.. Ryan would still be here.

_ Shane _ was the once that caused the distraction.  _ Shane _ was the one that proposed the race.  _ Shane _ was the one who didn't reach out.  _ Shane let Ryan fall _ .

Everyone  _ thought _ Shane killed Ryan, but Shane knew the truth. He knew that he had killed Ryan. No one would forgive him, but especially not himself.

**Author's Note:**

> Raí, wrestling au now pls.


End file.
